Beyoncé Has Broken The U.S. iTunes Record For Most Albums Sold in its First Week

Over the weekend, we reported that Beyoncé's self-titled "visual album" was already head for the No. 1 spot on this week's Billboard 200. We also noted that it had the potential to be her biggest selling first week since the relase of 2006's B'Day. Bey has now not only broken her own debut week record, but she has broken the record for most digital albums sales in one week on iTunes in the United States. From Billboard:

"Beyoncé breaks the previous one-week iTunes record, set by Taylor Swift's Red when it sold 465,000 in the week ending Oct. 28, 2012. (The digital version of "Red" was exclusively sold through iTunes for its first week. It became available to all digital retailers after its first week on sale.)

To note: The music industry tracks weekly sales on a Monday through Sunday basis, hence why Beyoncé's feat is being measured after only three days on sale. Red had seven days of sales in its first tracking week, as it was released on Monday, Oct. 22.

Beyoncé's iTunes launch is also the second-largest digital sales week overall—counting all digital retailers. It's second behind the debut frame of Lady Gaga's Born This Way, which sold 662,000 downloads in its first week. (That number was enhanced by Amazon MP3's decision to sell the set for 99-cents for two days during its first week. Billboard has estimated that Amazon MP3's 99-cent version resulted in 440,000 copies sold.)

Apple has also announced via press release that the album has sold "an unprecedented 828,773" in its first three days and has gone to No. 1 in 104 countries.